


Heart to Heart

by AceDelta12



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Post-Timeskip | War Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Pre-Timeskip | Academy Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Spoilers for Post-Timeskip | War Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-13 07:07:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29274426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AceDelta12/pseuds/AceDelta12
Summary: Edelgard talks with her younger self the night before departing for Fhirdiad to kill the Immaculate One.
Kudos: 1





	Heart to Heart

Emperor Edelgard paced her room. The next day, the Black Eagle Strike Force would head out to Fhirdiad to slay the Immaculate One and free Fodlan from her wicked reign. She would then completely reunite Fodlan under the complete reign of the Adrestian Empire once again, and cement her name among the greatest in Fodlan's history. But there was just one problem.

Edelgard couldn't sleep.

Her mind raced with too many thoughts to even think about sleeping. She knew she was tired, but her mind refused to register it. She constantly thought about her peaceful life before the war, before the master plan to free Fodlan had fully taken effect. She remembered her academy days, surrounded by many close friends.

Now, the majority of those close friends are dead. Leonie had switched out from the Golden Deer almost immediately upon hearing that Byleth really was the son of Jeralt. Mercedes and Annette, the dynamic duo from the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, had made the jump from the Blue Lions a few days before the plan took place. Felix and Ingrid, from the Blue Lions, and Raphael, from the Golden Deer, had switched right after the Battle of the Eagle and Lion, swayed by the sheer dominance with which Byleth commanded his students. Lysithea had been defeated by Byleth in Derdriu, but willingly left the Leicester Alliance and joined the Empire when given a second chance. Everyone else in that generation of students was dead.

She wanted to talk to someone, desperately. Byleth had been too busy with planning the attack on Fhirdiad with Hubert, and she hadn't gotten close enough with any of the others in the Black Eagle Strike Force to talk to them about what was going through her mind.

That only left one person. The only person Edelgard could trust with her current thoughts is Edelgard. Rather, Edelgard from the academy days.

She went to the window and stared out into the distance, wishing for days long past.

"It hurts, doesn't it?" a voice said behind her.

Edelgard swiftly turned around. It was another Edelgard, dressed in the academy uniform. She even had the red half-cape of a house leader and everything.

"I know that sacrifice doesn't come easy." the younger Edelgard continued. "But if we push through for just a little longer, we won't need it ever again."

"Are you real...?" Emperor Edelgard asked. "Or were you just conjured from my mind?"

"I am a part of your mind that you don't want to let go of." Edelgard responded. "You fear that if you were to let go of me, you would lose your humanity."

"I **do** fear that..." Emperor Edelgard admitted. "I don't want to become a harsh leader with a heart of ice... I want to be able to lead the people the right way... On top of that, I feel like I haven't been able to trust anyone... Byleth's been too busy, so it's like I don't have anyone to talk to..."

"So you conjured up a younger version of yourself. A version who hasn't been through the chaos of war, but still mature enough to understand your problems." Edelgard said. "I understand. Go ahead, you can vent to me. That's why I'm here."

Almost breaking into tears, Emperor Edelgard started listing off every single thing that had been bothering her the entire war. From the incompetence of her soldiers, to the way Dimitri had turned his own soldiers into demonic beasts for the sole purpose of taking her down, to the way the nobles had outright taken so much power from House Hresvelg that she had to strip them of their statuses and either put them on house arrest or outright kill them depending on the person, to simply not being able to talk to Byleth as much as she used to.

Emperor Edelgard took Edelgard's hands in her own. "I feel so lost at times... I don't know what to do."

"The war is nearly over... Once the Church is overthrown, you'll finally be free to do as you please." Edelgard said.

Emperor Edelgard nodded. "The war is nearly over..."

"My advice to you, is to stop dwelling on what can't be changed right now and focus on what **can** be changed." Edelgard said. "Things will happen naturally with time."

She slowly disappeared into thin air, leaving Emperor Edelgard to think to herself.

Emperor Edelgard took a deep breath, and then climbed into bed.

She fell asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> https://aminoapps.com/c/fire-emblem-amino/page/blog/edge-of-dawn-analysis-3h-main-theme/42Bv_o2KiYu2ZEQLMaZGYLaagm3mLq2vlvL
> 
> Credit for artwork.


End file.
